Joliet-area officials struggle to warn area residents about the health scare without stirring widespread panic due to political correctness.

Joliet Illinois schools in Will County school districts spent Monday not notifying parents about the potential risks in the area that has Mexican illegals with strong links to the country where the virus originated, Jumping the border is the cause for Illinois infections, the virus has infected at least 48 people in five U.S. states, none of them fatally as of yet.

A major concern has resonated but lack of officials concern has cause me to worry, why not advised parents to monitor their children’s health, With 45 percent of the Joliet Illinois school’s having 25,000 students either Mexican illegals or Mexican born Americans, teachers should be asking parents if their families have traveled to Mexico recently.

local officials have down played the severity trying not to cause fear, Despite the fact that several reports have indicated that U.S. swine flu patients had recently traveled to Mexico,

local officials and school leaders have chosen to ignore that, we’re doing nothing to stop them from coming across the border.

Let them hold a Cinco de Mayo parade in Joliet and all around Illinois communities, we have no right to good health as it seems to me and it would be par for the course . It seems again they have put party politics ahead of the welfare of the very people they are paid so generously to represent, If we have a swine flu pandemic in America, the Politicians are entitled to a great deal of the blame.. Cheap labor and Germ warfare great way to get rid of us unemployed American voters that Elected these pieces of crap.

lately 23 states are now experiencing cases of Chagas a South American disease causing heart failure, intestinal problems and ultimately death but that’s OK right?…. lets do nothing, lets be politically correct and sensitive to people that have no caring for our well being.

Tomorrow we go to the voting booth to decide among a number of things who will lead our country and how our system of government will change. I grew up in a predominantly Democrat neighborhood. As a matter of fact it was 1.5 blocks south and 2 blocks east of Richard Daley’s home in Bridgeport. The neighborhood I grew up in had a fairly small town feel to it. Many of the people there had lived for generations in the same apartment, everyone knew everyone else, we were more or less poor people, not having the education, or money to gain one that would enable us to actually buy the homes we lived in. My Grandfather Phillip Peter Cleary died in the same apartment he was born in on 34th and Wallace Street. He was a veteran of World War 2, learned to drive a truck in the Civilian Conservation Corps, worked for Lincoln Meat Packing as a driver and he was a good Democrat. My Grandfather believed in America, he fought for those beliefs’ in North Africa, Sicily and at Anzio Beach. He was a part of the “Greatest Generation”! He came back to the neighborhood he grew up in and was involved in the American Legion and on a small scale politics. He was a Democrat ward worker helping to get out the vote and always helping the party he believed worked for freedom and the American Value System. He worked to get out the vote for Richard J. Daley in his first run for Mayor in 1955.

At this point you are probably asking why I am boring you with this. I believe if my grandfather were alive today he would be disgusted by what has become of his party! It has become a repository for the Socialists and Communists of America. An organization of intolerance to freedom, if you don’t tow the line you are ostracized and denounced, like Joe Lieberman or Zell Miller. It has become a party that is financially influenced by foreign individuals and organizations like George Soros and MoveOn.org, the Open Society Institute and the Council on Foreign Relations, who do not have the best interests of the American People at heart.

Tomorrow we will decide if we want The United States of America to take a substantial swing to the Left and adopt the failed policies of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Mao Zedong or if we will remain the standard for Freedom in the world.

Another thing we will decide and this will have the most immediate effect on our lives. Do we want to continue the erosion of our influence in what happens in Will County or will we vote for a change in the practices that are dragging our County down. The likes of Larry Walsh, Pam McGuire, Pat O’Neil and James Glasgow are like a stain on the underwear of Will County. It is time we wash our undergarments and feel clean again. Mr. Walsh has taken substantial amounts of money from people who do business with the county, people he has contracted. He has taken money from those that want little or no supervision to destroy the streets and highways of our County. He is an unrepentant alcoholic who has flaunted and broke the laws of our state and in the process put every citizen of this state in jeopardy by operating a vehicle while intoxicated. mR. Walsh and his buddies are chomping at the bit for Cook County style politics. Pam McGuire has not been able to lead a staff without the corruption of pay offs on tickets and sexual harassment in her office. Mr. O’Neil had to dig up a body to enable him to correctly identify (on the second try) that a murder had occurred. Mr. Glasgow has employed ADA’s that warn family members of pending charges of rape! For some reason we think that this is good Governance. Once again My Grand Father would be disgusted, I’m glad he isn’t here to witness it!

As a Veteran, a Past Commander of an American Legion Post and an active participant in Veterans issues I have a special disgust for those who would denigrate any Veteran for any reason. More times than not this ire is put upon us by those who loathe the idea of serving our Great Country in any capacity in the Military. I just have to believe that this is the case in this instance. Once again Larry and his Cronies have stooped to a new low, the farmer Joins his PIGS in the STY!

10/17/2008This is my first time running for elected office but I am not new to politics.

Thus, I expected that when I began exposing the corruption and pay-to-play politics I knew existed in Will County Executive Larry Walsh’s Office, Walsh would ultimately send his political attack dogs after me and ratchet up his smear machine.

After I received the endorsements of the major law enforcement unions in WillCounty(1), I expected desperate acts from Larry Walsh.

But, with Walsh and his Chief of Staff Matt Ryan under FBI scrutiny(2), their desperation and resulting duplicity even surprises me.

Through a fraudulent Will County Democrat newsletter that fronts as a newspaper, Walsh (who is a listed staff member for the periodical–SEE ATTACHMENT BELOW) and his henchmen have made some of the most vicious AND untrue allegations that you can level against someone, accusing me of being dishonorably discharged from the military (I served in the U.S. Air Force from 1976-1980) and accusing me of being a “wife-beater”.

I have campaigned on a commitment to bring transparency to WillCounty government. So it is in that spirit and with the backing of my family that I respond to these malicious lies so that WillCounty residents have the facts and they can make up their own minds about what kind of person they want as their CountyExecutive.

I will not allow myself or my family to be beaten up in a back alley by Larry Walsh, by Larry Walsh’s “newspaper”(3) or by Larry Walsh’s political hatchet men. So here we go:

I. Larry Walsh Lie #1

First, regarding my military service, I am not going to play the “he said, he said” game. After this aspersion was cast, I ordered my DD214 from the United States Air Force. The DD214 is my military discharge papers. They should arrive this week. I will post my discharge papers on my campaign website(4), for all to see.

And when I do, I want the record to reflect that Mr. Walsh disrespected me and every other veteran in WillCounty and in our nation by spewing a lie about my service in order to smear me and score cheap political points with the hope that some would only hear the allegation and never the truth. It is outrageous.

II. Larry Walsh Lie #2

Second, re: the allegation as to my former marriage. Here is the complete story:

My ex-wife Mary and I were married for 11 years. We had one child, our son Tyler.

Within weeks of Tyler‘s birth and throughout the 11-years she was in Tyler‘s presence, Mary suffered from significant mental illness developing first with postpartum depression and then to postpartum psychosis and later to bi-polar disorder. Her depression was and is severe, requiring 10 hospitalizations in 10 years with each stay longer than 25 days.

She has been prescribed multiple drug regimens for years and has been under the care of a doctor for more than 17 years.

In the last year of our marriage, she began hurting herself and family members. I made the decision to divorce.

On the day I told her that I would file for divorce and seek custody of our children, Mary called the Joliet police and claimed that I had battered her. Although there was no such incident and no signs of such incident, I was subjected to the police policy to arrest and separate.

I was not only found innocent of the charge by a Will County Judge but I was granted an “Order of Protection” which prohibited Mary from coming into contact with me or our children.

I was subsequently granted a divorce and custody of our children. Mary was granted only “Supervised Visitation”, requiring that a third party be present in order for her to visit the children. Mary has elected not to exercise her right to that supervised visitation at any time since our divorce.

After being found innocent of the charge Mary had leveled against me, the allegation and complete record were expunged.

I continue to raise Tyler, as I did my other children, in our home in Joliet where we have lived for the past 20 years.

These are the facts. And, again, I have the documentation to back up what I say to be true as well as the most important thing to me: the custody of my children to ensure they are raised as they have been–in a safe, loving home.

I want to add that I did not recount the detail above to embarrass anyone or assign blame. But the above is the truth and I felt I should lay out the facts and let informed WillCounty voters make up their own minds once presented with all of the relevant information, and not just my opponent’s desperate smears.

I should add one more thing, even after everything our family has been through, I still believe in erring on the side of safety when it comes to domestic violence. That means reporting any such incident. If someone is falsely accused, as I was, the courts can and will sort it out, as they did in my case.

With all of this now explained in painful detail, I also want WillCounty residents to consider the kind of person who would knowingly print falsehoods of this nature for political gain.

I want WillCounty residents to consider the kind of person who would, for political gain, cravenly attempt to exploit the serious issue of domestic violence and to, in effect, trivialize the suffering of the many families who have had to deal with actual domestic violence.

It is unconscionable that Larry Walsh and his guns-for-hire would knowingly and purposefully spread a story of this nature that they knew to be false. And, yet, that’s precisely what they have done.

If this is the kind of politics you want, the politics of character assassination, the politics of malicious lies and desperation, then Larry Walsh is your candidate, WillCounty.

If you reject this sort of politics, then, whether you vote for me or not, please let Larry Walsh and his crew know.

Whether I win or lose this election is less important to me than seeing someone in a position of public trust get away with the brand of malicious deceit practiced by Larry Walsh.

Finally, I have delivered a “cease, desist, and retract” letter to Larry Walsh’s fake newspaper. I plan to follow through with all appropriate legal action against Larry Walsh’s fake newspaper and anyone else who cares to engage in libelous and slanderous conduct against either me or my family.

Today I got a weird phone call I know it was related to re-electing Debbie Halvorson, during the phone call I was asked many questions pertaining to Halvorson and just a few questions relating to Ozinga, at no point should I be asked My name or my address but low and behold I was asked both.

I would also suggest to them that conduct these phone polls and politicians do not use people that are hard to understand trying to speak English relating to our elections, To me it sounded like I was speaking with a Hindu. Just on that basis I would not vote for Halvorson, her party can not even hire Americans to man a phone bank, makes me wonder what her stance is on hiring Americans would be. Oh and by the way I am not voting for Ozinga either.

Lets use illegal’s to get American votes. NO Habla my Vote…Or what ever country the polititions hire these people from.

It went from a city experiencing high unemployment rates and economic troubles to one of the county’s fastest growing cities. Why the major economic growth spurt?Officials say it was a casino.

Joliet, Ill., was a city that was dependent on the manufacturing industry. In the early 1980s, the city’s unemployment rate reached 25 percent.In an effort to revitalize cities in Illinois, state legislators decided to issue 10 licenses to economically underserved areas. The state gaming board picked the locations and Joliet was one of them.

Mayor Art Schultz took office in 1991 and the first casino was built in 1992. He describes the casino as a catalyst and the boost in the arm his city needed. The population increased from 80,000 residents in the early 1990s to about 146,000 in 2006.

Schultz said there wasn’t a lot of opposition about a casino opening up in Joliet.“We had some downplay on it, but a majority of the people accepted it,” said Schultz.The changes the city has seen in the last 14 years are incredible, according to Schultz.The city generates about $3 million a month from the Empress Casino Joliet and Harrah’s Joliet Hotel and Casino.

“Some of the things we used the money for was the NIP (Neighborhood Improvement Program). We built new fire stations, new police stations, and a new minor league ballpark worth $29 million, which draws about 200,000 people a year,” said Schultz. “We have given money for education. We added new police officers, new firefighters and city employees. I can go on and on.”

Since the city started its riverboat gaming, it has given $25 million to nonprofit organizations, built a new museum, water park and library.“It is all paid for,” Schultz said.

The city has also been able to provide a discount to senior citizens on their water rates and the statistics on crime have gone down in the last five years, according to Schultz.Joliet Fire Chief Larry Mores said the casinos have been beneficial to not only the entire city but to the fire department.

He said, when Harrah’s casino first opened, the gambling was done on riverboats. Harrah’s hired the fire department’s paramedics to staff its boats around the clock, according to Mores.“It allowed our personnel to work extra hours so that (the riverboats) had medical care available all the time,” he said.

Since the casinos became land-based they do not have the paramedics at their facilities. The casino runs are incorporated in the fire departments regular runs, according to Mores.He said the casinos aren’t any more of a demand on the fire department than any other facility that has that type of entertainment and that number of people.“It didn’t increase our runs significantly more than any other venue of that type,” said Mores.The fire department did not have to hire additional personnel because the location of the casino was in the middle of city and the fire department already had a couple of stations that provided service to that area, he said.

The biggest benefit the fire department got from the casino was the revenue that was generated and turned over to the city. The additional revenue allowed the fire department to go ahead and purchase some much needed capital improvement items such as fire vehicles and ambulances, according to Mores.

“That has been our most significant impact from the boats being here, the revenue that has allowed us to really improve and buy more modern equipment,” he said. “They definitely have not only helped the fire department but they have really been a great source of revenue for a lot of capital improvements throughout the city. When they came to town, we had dilapidated equipment, and we no longer have the [old] equipment.”

Joliet has two casinos. The Empress Casino is located on Route 6 in an area that is described to be an industrial park. The Harrah’s casino is located in the city center.“When they first went into Joliet, it had lost all of its economic base. They had a prison and that was about it,” said Jan L. Jones, senior vice president of communications and government relations for Harrah’s.

She said the city has used the funds from the casino to invest back in the community.“All businesses have thrived in Joliet,” said Jones.She said Harrah’s was welcomed in Joliet and she said the legislation was different than what is being proposed in Rhode Island.

“They approved 10 licenses and designated the cities,” said Jones. “The legislature determined cities, and then the gaming board selected operators. These were all dying cities.”Harrah’s Joliet Hotel and Casino has 203 hotel rooms, 43,000 square feet of casino space with 1,200 machines, three full-size restaurants, and a food court area. There are about 200,000 and 250,000 visitors to the hotel and casino, according to Jones.

“It’s pretty amazing. We have always said that we underestimated the potential,” she said. The casino generates about $30 million a month with almost $400 million a year in revenue.“We funded the two gaming properties in Joliet, built their baseball stadium and the Chicago racetrack,” said Jones. She said the casino also funded the city’s “whole downtown redevelopment.”